Railroad-switch



(No Model.)

L. 0. WELDIN. RAILROAD SWITCH.

Patented Nov. 15,1881.

wizwsem PAr Nr OFFICE.

LEWIS G. VVELDIN, OF CONNELLSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAlLROAD-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 249,710, dated November 15, 1881.

Application filed March 24, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Lnwrs O. WELDIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oonnellsville, in the county of Fayette and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Switches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same,

reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to that type of railroadswitches which direct the cars upon the differentrails by an upward movement of the switchrails; and the objects of my improvements are, first, to provide for raising the switch-rails by a longitudinal movement thereof; second, to provide the proper devices and combinations thereof for giving the proper movement to the switch-rails; and, third, to provide a guardrail of novel construction adapted to receive and support the weight of the engine, tender, and cars in passing it when the switch is set wrong. I accomplish these objects by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- 1 Figure 1 is a plan view of a railroad-switch having myimprovemen ts conn ected therewith, it showing the main rails of a track, the rails of a side track,the movable switch-rails, the guardrails, the chairs for holding the rails in position, and the mechanism for moving the switchrails. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a portion of a railroad-track, partly in section, showing the switch-rail with its inclined surfaces, and levers and rods for moving the same, a portion of the main rail being broken away for the purpose of showing the inclined planes on the under surface of the switch-rail. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation on line 00 a; of Fig. 1, showing the three rails and the devices for holding them in position. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on line 3 y of Fig. 1, showing one of the rails of the side or shunting track, the switch-rail, and one of the guard-rails, with its projecting ledge for the flanges of the wheels to rest upon in passingit; and Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing the inclined surfaces for raising the switch rails, the sliding bar to which such surfaces are attached, and the devices for moving said bar, the main rail of the track being broken away for the purpose of 5 5 showing the switch-rail.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In constructing this type of switches, when the switch-rail is to be raised vertically and without any horizontal movement, I adopt the well-known plan shown in Fig. 5, which consists in first placing the requisite number of cross-ties A in proper positions, and cutting in their edges and upon their upper surfaces inclined slots A. These inclined surfaces are stationary, and the raising of the switch-rails is effected by means of a series of inclined surfaces, (equal in number to the number of ties,) upon which said rails rest, attached to a slid- 7o ing bar, A said surfaces being designated as A The upper surfaces of the sliding bars A are in contact with the under surface of the rails, and their lower surfaces rest upon the ties, or upon chairs placed thereon, and upon said lower surfaces the inclines A are formed or secured, so that by moving the bar A the inclined surfaces thereon will come in contact with the inclined surfaces A, and thus cause a vertical movement of the switch-rail without imparting to it any horizontal movement.

The switch-rail above alluded to is designated by the letter B, and may be made of a section of a common T-rail planed off so as to reduce one of its ends to or nearly to a point, 8 5

'Whileits opposite one is leftofits original form, the form of the ends of said rail being shown in Figs. 3 and 4. When this switch-rail or tongue is made of a common rail, as above described, it is to have attached to one of its sides go a piece of metal, 13, as shown in Fig. 3, which extends in the direction of its length sufficiently far to guide the flanges of the wheels passing overitso that they will enter the space between the guard-rails and the switch-rail 5 proper, and be by its inclined upper surface raised up sufficiently far to cause it to transfer the engine, car, or train to the track for which the switch is set when said engine, car, or train isapproaching it upon another traclo These pieces of metal, which may be termed safetypieces, are bolted to the rail B and are caused to move therewith.

Instead of making the switch-rail of two parts, as above described, it'may be formed of one piece of steel or iron, it having a recess or cavity formed in its upper surface for receiving and giving direction to the wheels, as indicated at B in Fig. 1.

It will be understood that there are to be two of the switch-rails at each junction of two or more tracks, Fig. 1, showing theirlocation with reference to the permanent rails of two tracks consisting of rails O, (3, (J and G and also with reference to guard-rails D D, which" have bolted to or formed upon their inner surfaces bars of metal D which form ledges upon which the flanges of the wheels rest, and to which a portion of the weight of the engine, tender, and cars is transferred in passing when the switch is set wrong, where it will be seen that the switch-rails are placed with their broadest ends toward and nearly in contact with the ends of the rails of the main and shunting tracks. 1

The method of holding the rails of the two tracks in position at the ends which adjoin the switch-rails is clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4, where it will be seen that an iron chair or recessed plate, 0*, is provided, which islet into a tie, and carries upon its upper surface blocks of metal 0", to which the ends of the rails are secured by bolts. The means of moving the bar which raises the switch-rails consists of leverD, placed transversely across the track and under the rails, it being pivoted at its center to a bar, D attached to the ties. This lever is moved by means of another lever, B, the lower end of which is secured to a shaft working in a box, D attached to the ties, or to a support provided for it. To one end of this shaft there is secured an arm, D which has attached to it a connecting-rod, D the opposite end of which is connected to the sliding bar A. The arrangement of these last-named parts is such that as the lever D is moved the lever D will be moved, the effect of which is to cause the opposite ends of said lever to be carried in opposite directions, and thus cause the sliding bars to also move in opposite directions, and thus the switch-rails will be lowered upon one side of the track and raised upon the other, which will have the effect to cause the train approaching the switch upon the main line to be transferred to either the shuntingtrack or to the continuation of the main track,

according to the position of the switch-rails, they being shown in their depressed position in Figs. 2 and 5, and in their elevated position in Fig. 3.

The shifting of the switch-rails, as just described, may be effected by taking hold of the outer end of lever 1), if preferred, in which case the lever D and its connections may be dispensed with. p

The modification shown in Fig. 2 consists in attaching totheunder surfaceof theswitch-rails inclined planes E, so that as the said rails are moved horizontally the inclined surfaces will come in contact with the upper surfaces of the ties upon which they rest, or with chairs placed of the guard-rails one or more blocks, F, the

ends of which are beveled, as shown in Fig.2, which are made to act upon bars F, secured upon the under surface of the sliding switchrails in such positions that when either of such rails is moved in the direction calculated to depress it the bars F secured thereto will come in contact with the inclined surface of the block or blocks F, and thus force the switch rails down to their proper positions.

When it is desirable to use switchrails which have a vertical movement only a guide must be placed on the switch-rail to clasp the incline on the sliding bar A, the movements of which will force the rails down to their proper bearings.

It will be seen that the devices and their combinations and arrangements above named constitute what may properly be denominated a safety-switch, as, owing to the construction and arrangement of the switch-rails and their attachments, a train cannot be thrown from the. track, even though the switch be set for another track than the one upon which the train is ap proaching.

Owing to the arrangement of the parts shown the guard-rails can be placed close to the main rails, and thus virtually cause them to make a frog out of the switch when the switch-rail is lowered down and out of use, the guard-rail and safety-irons B at such times universally guiding the wheels upon the main track when the switch is set wrong.

Another great advantage due to this form of switch is that no snow can get between the points of the switch-rails and those of the tracks, as they are always in contact and do not require to be moved transversely.

I am aware that it is not a novel feature in railroad-switches to shift them by producing a vertical movement alone of the switch point or points, such a method being shown in the patent of C. W. Tarbox, February 3,1880,No. 224,054, and in English Patents Nos. 13,211 of 1850 and 2,983 of 1872. I do not, therefore, intend to claim such a method of shifting switches, but limit this part of my invention to switches the rails of which have both a horizontal and a vertical movement imparted to them in changing their positions with reference to the different lines of rails.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat eat, is-

1. A railroad-switch the rails of which have both a horizontal and a vertical movement imparted to them in being changed in their positions for giving direction to trains in passing them, the arrangement of the parts being as shown and described.

2. The combination, in a switch the rails of which havea vertical movement, of the guardrails D D, having flange-bearing surfaces D, the switch-rails B, and the rails of the track, the parts being arranged substantially as set forth, whereby the guard-rails are made to perform the office of a frog, as described.

3. In a railroad-switch in which the switchrails have a vertical movement, the combination of the guard-rails having the flange-bearing surfaces D, the switch-rails having inclined projections upon their under surfaces,

the rails of the main track, the inclined surfaces F placed thereon, and the bar F for forcing the switch-rails down into their lowest positions, substantially as set forth.

4. A guard-rail to be used in connection with vertically-moving switch-rails, having upon its inner surface a ledge or projection upon which the flanges of the wheels rest in passing when the switch is set wrong.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEWIS G. WELDIN.

Witnesses:

J. M. KURTZ, JOHN KURTZ. 

